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EPA Funding Gives Green Light to Environmental Education Projects in New York; Sixteen Projects in New York Receive More than $113,000 in Funding from EPA

Release Date: 09/16/2002
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(#02095) New York, New York – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today gave the green light to sixteen environmental education projects throughout New York State with funding of more than $113,000. Each year since 1992, EPA has awarded grants to support environmental education projects that increase public awareness and knowledge about the environment. “These grants make a difference; they help citizens understand how we interact with our environment and leave our stamp on it,” said Jane M. Kenny, EPA Regional Administrator. “Environmental education is a life long process. EPA grants support that process by funding projects to effectively educate people of all ages.” The sixteen grants, ranging from $2,516 to $20,565, will reach a wide range of populations in the state including migrant farm workers, non-formal educators, prison inmates, community gardeners and elementary and high school students and teachers. Nonprofit organizations, school districts and state universities are some of the organizations receiving grants that will support both downstate and upstate program This year’s recipients in New York will conduct projects that educate the public about environmental or health issues, improve educators’ environmental education teaching skills, provide internships, educate students about careers in the environment and promote environmental justice. For more information on EPA’s Environmental Education Grant program, visit the Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html The projects in New York receiving environmental education grants are: Adirondack Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) P.O. Box 2656, Plattsburgh, NY 12901 Development of Ecosystem-based Education Modules for Residence Camp - $5,000 The Adirondack Council of the Boy Scouts of America will develop educational programs for summer camps. Focusing on the ecosystems of the Adirondack Mountains, the modules will cover acid rain, accelerated eutrophication in lakes due to human activity, nonpoint source pollution and the impact of introducing non-native species into the Adirondack ecosystems. The modules will be designed to interest girls and boys in grades three through five at BSA and Girl Scouts of the USA residence camps. The program materials will encourage young campers to understand their place in ecosystems. The modules will be interactive and ecosystem-based, making them suitable for use at most residential camps. Brooklyn Botanic Garden 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 The Internship Initiative - $5,000 The Internship Initiative expands a successful Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) program for high school and college students that increases their understanding of horticulture and introduces them to career opportunities. The initiative provides students, many from under-served communities, with a variety of intellectual resources, a positive peer environment and caring career-minded mentors. Interns who are Children’s Garden instructors learn both gardening basics and the educational needs of youngsters. Science Apprentices, who work with BBG staff mentors, use scientific methods and practices to learn more about a research topic. The school program interns rotate through the BBG’s education, horticulture, and library departments. Participants in the initiative will be active environmental educators and learners while they explore career possibilities. Constitution Marsh Audubon Center & Sanctuary P. O. Box 174, Cold Spring, NY 10516 Environmental Education and Steward Internship - $5,000 This grant supports college students’ participation in an intensive summer field ecology internship program at Constitution Marsh, a 270-acre Hudson River tidal marsh in Garrison, New York. Interns receive on-the-job training focused on developing their teaching skills, increasing their knowledge of natural history and providing experience with day-to-day work in a wildlife sanctuary. Interns rotate through several areas of the sanctuary’s operations. They learn about providing effective environmental education, perform tasks in wildlife and sanctuary management and handle nature center administration. In addition, interns design and implement a research or education-based project during their tenure. Council on the Environment, Inc. 51 Chambers Street, Room 228, New York, NY 10007 Training Student Organizers to Implement Energy Conservation Action Projects - $5,000 Training Student Organizers is an action-oriented program that educates students about environmental issues, helps them develop citizenship skills and provides opportunities for them to make positive contributions to the quality of life in their neighborhoods. The Council on the Environment will work with the Manhattan Center for Mathematics and Science, a public high school in East Harlem, on a program involving 150 students. The students will learn about energy sources, production, delivery and consumption; study strategies for conservation and alternative energy use; design classroom and school lighting conservation programs; and develop plans for strategies and projects to motivate others to play an active role in conserving energy. Genesee Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Geneseo Migrant Center 27 Lackawanna Avenue, Mount Morris, NY 14510 Environmental Justice for Migrant Farm Worker Students - $13,784 The Geneseo Migrant Center will partner with other migrant education agencies to develop a course for migrant farm worker high school students. The goal is to educate these students about the environmental health concerns that they and their families face. The environmental studies course will include topics such as pesticide use in the workplace and the health impacts of substandard housing and sanitary facilities. The project involves the development and dissemination of a portable two-semester course for high school credit that students can pursue as their families pursue work in agriculture. The courses will meet state standards. Students will be assisted by a cooperating teacher/mentor. The Horticultural Society of New York 128 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019 GreenBranches Workshops - $5,000 GreenBranches provides support for gardens at public library branches, especially those in low-income neighborhoods. The program provides the community with a green space that can be used for library programming, outdoor reading and community networking. GreenBranches provides professional architects and designers who create a garden for the particular library branch. This project supports activities to increase neighborhood members’ participation in the GreenBranches workshops. Participants learn about stewardship of the library garden and then apply what they have learned to other neighborhood environments. The workshop provides strategies to help participants practice horticulture in the large and small spaces in the city that are a part of their daily lives. The Horticultural Society of New York 128 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019 Apple Seed Teacher Training Workshops: Development of Guide, Apple Seed Dozens - $5,000 The Apple Seed program provides environmental and horticultural workshops to teachers. The workshops have a hands-on interdisciplinary approach. Participants return to their schools able to conduct classroom activities that strengthen students’ critical thinking skills and self-esteem while improving their math and science literacy. Development of the Apple Seed Dozens Reference Guide , a supplement for the Apple Seed program, will help teachers to implement the program more effectively by providing additional teaching strategies. The reference guide will be a part of the educational materials teachers learn how to use as part of Apple Seed hands-on teacher training workshops. The Horticultural Society of New York 128 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019 Greenhouse Project: Educating and Training Inmates in Horticulture - $5,000 The Horticultural Society of New York will partner with the New York City Department of Correction to work with female and male inmates at the Rikers Island correctional facility. This program includes two components: classroom sessions during which inmates learn about environmental issues, soil science and botany; and hands-on experience in horticulture and landscaping. The program also seeks to prevent recidivism by providing education and training in job-seeking and job-retention skills. These efforts have a successful track record: recidivism for inmates in this program stands at 6% compared to the average inmate rate of 65%. The program stresses environmentally sound and natural systems of horticulture. Ithaca City School District and Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (T-S-T BOCES) 400 Lake Street, P. O. Box 549, Ithaca, NY 14851-0549 Danby School of Agriculture and the Environment High School Elementary Watershed Education Program - $4,992 This project will educate Ithaca High School and T-S-T BOCES high school students about watersheds and encourage them to pursue careers in the environment. Students will conduct a comparative study of the local watershed by studying stream chemistry, the physical components of the ecosystems and plant and animal identification. They will conduct their studies under the guidance of Cornell University faculty, scientists, environmental business people and professionals involved in water-related environmental fields. These high school students will share their observations with students throughout the world through the Global Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. They will also teach fourth graders about watersheds at a half-day workshop. Mohonk Preserve, Inc. P. O. Box 715, New Paltz, NY 12561-0715 The Hudson Watershed Environmental Justice Project - $20,565 The Mohonk Preserve and the Hudson Basin River Watch will work with the Youth Resources Development Corporation to address water quality and environmental justice issues with inner city youth. Seventh and eighth graders from under-served communities will be recruited. Program staff will teach them about watershed issues in general and the importance of watersheds in the communities in which they reside. Students will learn about how individual and community actions can impact water quality. They will investigate the water quality of a Hudson River tributary on Mohonk Preserve lands and water quality in their neighborhoods. Students will gain an understanding of the processes underlying water's movement, how pollution moves through a watershed and how to determine stream health. The project combines in-school and field study components. Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Inc. (NESEA) 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Earth Smart Travel - $5,000 NESEA will conduct a regional energy conservation workshop for fourth grade through high school teachers and school building managers. Scheduled for the autumn in Albany, New York, the workshop will focus on current technology and available consumer choices for heating, lighting and transportation. The workshop will enable participants to use educational resources and materials on energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean transportation technologies. The mission of the program is to provide education about energy conservation choices that can be made at the institutional and personal level to prevent pollution through wise energy use. Research Foundation of The State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh State Brownfields and Exotic Species: What Local Governments Need to Know P. O. Box 9, Albany, NY 12201 - $5,000 The Technical Assistance Center of SUNY at Plattsburgh and the Center for Earth and Environmental Science will conduct a one-day workshop for local officials on Brownfields and exotic, non-native species. This workshop will be offered to administrators in towns within the Adirondack region of New York, one of the largest tracts of wilderness in the U.S. The workshop will provide local officials in smaller communities with an understanding of the legal, financial and environmental issues involved in redeveloping Brownfield sites. The workshop will also focus on the ecological consequences of, and strategies needed to deal with, exotic plant species invasion. The workshop will enable administrators and managers to make informed decisions when responding to the effects of human interactions with the environment. Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh State Acid Rain and Exotic Species: A Workshop for North Country Teachers P. O. Box 9, Albany, NY 12201 - $5,000 The Center for Earth and Environmental Science, the Department of Elementary Education and the Technical Assistance Center of SUNY at Plattsburgh State will conduct a workshop on acid deposition and exotic species for junior and senior high school teachers in the Adirondack-Lake Champlain region of New York. The workshop will update regional educators on the continuing acid deposition problem in local ecosystems, help teachers understand the nature and consequences of invasive species on ecosystems and provide classroom activities to educate students about these two environmental concerns. As a result of the workshop, participating teachers and students will be better able to ascertain the consequences of these ecological challenges. The River Project Pier 26, North River, New York, NY 10013 Estuarium Exhibit - $5,000 This project will educate the public about environmental issues associated with the Hudson River Park Estuarine Sanctuary and its relationship to New York Harbor and the Hudson River Estuary. As part of its public education effort, the River Project will develop an educational outreach kiosk. The materials selected will provide a wide range of resources. The public will have access to general information about the environment, specific materials relating to the Hudson River Estuary, government documents addressing local environmental programs, suggested activities for ways to improve the health of the estuary and information on environmental educational resources for teachers and students. Tompkins County Soil & Water Conservation District USDA Service Center, 903 Hanshaw Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 Soil & Water Quality Assessment: A High School Educational Program - $2,516 High-school science students and teachers will learn how to perform soil and water quality assessments. Workshops for teachers and students will familiarize them with the background information, monitoring procedures, equipment that will be used, and techniques for monitoring, data collection and interpretation. Each school will designate a monitoring team, select sites and develop a monitoring schedule. Stream testing will take place at streams identified by the Tompkins County Water Resources Council and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Priority Waterbody List. Soil testing will take place at urban and rural sites. Students will summarize their findings in a final report. York College, City University of New York Research Foundation 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11451 York College Environmental Stewardship Academy - $16,700 York College will establish an Environmental Stewardship Academy to encourage minority students to pursue careers in science, math and technology. The academy will focus on environmental science. York College will recruit actively in the community to enroll 20 junior high school students in a two-part course of study. A six-week summer program will provide the seventh and eighth graders with a total immersion experience in environmental science and career exploration. The academic year Saturday Environmental Stewardship Academy will expand the summer program by focusing on environmental stewardship and community service. Literacy, research skills and career exploration will be combined in studies of waste management, biotechnology, urban wildlife, entomology, pesticides and asthma.